The ruccola salad, or rocket, as some of you call it, grows surprisingly well in my garden. But the season is not long, and suddenly there are some long, ugly plants with some seemingly useless flowers on top. Useless until I read that they tasted well too, not only the young leaves. And I have tried, the taste is excellent. A bit strong, nut-like taste that can go well in a salad, or on a pasta dish. And since I have now looked more closely – they even look nice. But as always before you eat any plant, be sure what you do. There are more photos of edible flowers in my photo gallery.
They are beautiful little creatures..even in their simplicity.
That’s what I found out,Seekraz, when I really had a look.
And they’re always there waiting for us….
Stunning; as always!
Thanks, Chocolatier.
Aha ! So, this is the flower of Rocket.
)
While eating and seeing it leaves, I’ve been wondering
“What sort of plant is this ? ? ?” —– I had no guess.
( So, this plant is related to Mustard and Cabbage ?
How beautiful.
Thank you to educate me Bente.
As a member of the cabbage family (Brassicaceae) it must be related to mustard and cabbage, as you already found out, Yoshizen. I am learning too, from your blog, and from writing my own..
You need a garden, or a window sill to see the flowers, otherwise the plants are harvested a long time before flowering.
I know the situation. So that, when I first ever encountered a Cabbage tree 1.5m tall, I was stunned.
Good tip. We eat several kinds of flower in Italy, with my hometown Rome’s absolute favorite being the artichoke…
Artichoke, lucky you, Alessandro, I can’t even think of growing that here. It definitely would be no flowers..
I grew this long ago when I lived in MIssissippi, and the blossoms were a welcome addition to the garden! Seeing a mass of them in bloom was a memorable experience. Thanks for the close-ups and the trivia! Z
Thanks, Playamart, I was seeing these ones as a mess in my garden (too late for harvesting), before I looked closely, and also learned they could be eaten.
Absolutely gorgeous photos Bente! I especially love the ability to see the veins in the petals.
Glad you liked them, Carol, thanks.
I always like to use the rocket flowers to decorate and eat in my salads. I use the parsley flowers too and the blue borage flowers that last all summer.
Parsley flowers I haven’t tried yet, but the borage I know. There were too few of them this year, but I will use more of the edible flowers next year. They even makes the salad look good.
I have heard of rocket, but not tasted it. The flowers are quite pretty.
I can recomend rocket salad, it is my favorite, alone or together with others. The flowers are pretty up close, Sandy, otherwise maybe not so…
In Italian then name is ARUGULA or ARUGOLA. We say that eating it will make you have vivid dreams. I grew it in California and ate it at all stages of growth and flowering but never did it give me vivid dreams. Darn it…!!!
In this country it is called Rocket Salad because it makes your mouth explode.
Vivid dreams, then I will eat much more. God tip, if it works. Nice information, Veraersilia, thanks.
How beautiful and lovely. It’s a great job, indeed.
Thanks, Cocomino. Enjoy your stay in Europe!
Spent the day photographing flowers with 12 other people. NONE of us have any photos that are nearly as spectacular as these are. Beautiful Bente!
You are kidding me, Emily? But thanks anyway, for a very, very nice comment.
NO..NOT KIDDING !! You should check out the instructors website, his stuff is awesome. Quite an illustrious career in nature photography.
Just did: http://www.allenrokach.com/. Very impressive, must be a great teacher. His flowers are quite impressionistic, like paintings.
Look like butterfly wings. So pretty.
Thanks, Fabulous, butterfly wings they are.
Lovley images, Bente.
(by co-incidence I photographed this flower in the Botanic Gardens herb section a few weeks ago and didn’t know what it was called, so was delighted to see the name in this post).
Thanks, Victoria, and that was a lovely story.
Very pretty!
The flowers look beautiful – like little spider webs caught in petals.
Strange, my rocket has yellow flowers.
I have never seen Rocket flowers before, they look beautiful!
I didn’t know the flowers were edible! Great photos.
Bente those pictures are beautiful. Have a nice week. Greatings of Ineke
So delicate, as the photos! Beautiful post Bente.
Jota.
I’ve never seen that blossom before. But it’s interesting to know that they are eatable.
Have a nice start to the week!
Great shots… they are so beautiful… Thank you, love, nia
Beauty in simplicity.
I photographed some of those little flowers that appear around my house in spring and I often eat ruccola salad (bought in the supermarket), but I just never connected both. Silly me!
Nice photos.
This is an ugly plant….LOL! I am familiar with rocket in salads, in fact I don’t like it as there is no moisture in the leaf and it gets stuck in my teeth (I prefer Iceberg lettuce or Cos in salads, they crisp up nicely and have that moisture content, which is especially wonderful in the warmer months). Now, as to the ruccola flowers, they are unusual and very pretty. I’m glad you changed your mind about them, bente….LOL.